Moodlerooms

In an industry that’s oversaturated by education software products and services that promise to revolutionize online education, Moodlerooms had a vision to find its place at the top by offering an affordable, sustainable and simple means for educators to teach and learn online. The company’s honest message got the attention of institutions around the world: Moodlerooms wouldn’t solve all of the educators’ issues, but it would make their lives easier. Moodlerooms offers Joule, an online teaching and learning platform that lets teachers extend student learning anytime, anywhere. Because Joule is based on the open-source Moodle software, institutions escape costly licensing fees. And as one of the largest Moodle service providers in the world, Moodlerooms provides institutions with easy access to the innovation and collaboration that come with Moodle’s community of more than 66 million registered users (educators, learners and developers). In March 2012, Moodlerooms was acquired and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Blackboard Inc., the world’s leader in education technology.

Incubator’s role: When Moodlerooms entered the Emerging Technology Centers in 2006, the company had three employees and 15 clients and supported 7,000 users. Shortly after the company raised an initial $120,000 in angel funding, ETC connected Moodlerooms’ leaders with Frank Dickson, principal of the Maryland Venture Fund within the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. Through Dickson’s support, DBED provided Moodlerooms with several additional rounds of funding, which enabled Moodlerooms to grow to a $10 million company. “After Moodlerooms graduated from the incubator in 2010, Moodlerooms experienced significant growth and attention within the education technology market,” says Tom Murdock, co-founder. “Without the service and staff of Baltimore’s Emerging Technology Center, Moodlerooms’ success would not have been possible.”